Fiber cover for fiber drums



H. A. BERGSTROM FIBER COVER FOR FIBER DRUMS Filed Jan. 24,' 1963 INVENTOR HAROLD A. Sarees-FROM ATTORNEYS Feb. 8 1:1.,

United States Patent O ration of New York Filed Jan. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 253,569 21 Claims. (Cl. 229-57) This invention relates to fiber covers for fiber drums and provides a simple, attractive and economically manu* factured ber cover constructed from a plurality of laminated paper disks.

An object of this invention is to provide ber covers having ends of diverse thickness and depending peripheral skirts of constant thickness, whereby the fiber covers may be used with fiber drums having substantially identical chime and locking band constructions but dilferent weight constructions, without the necessity of redimensioning the fiber drums or the chimes and locking bands associated therewith.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fiber cover having an end, a bead and a skirt :constructed lfrom a plurality of circular cover disks of diverse diameters, whereby the fiber cover may be increased or decreased in weight construction by the respective addition or removal of one or a plurality of the cover disks without a'tecting the dimensions of the bead or the skirt.

Another object of this invention is to provide a liber cover having a bead and a depending skirt constructed from a plurality of laminated cover disks, at least an outermost one of the plurality of cover disks having a relatively thin disk of extensible paper prelaminated to an outer surface of the outermost one of the cover disks to prevent the cover disks from splitting during fabrication and form a much more attractive cover than hitherto manufactured.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a liber coverhaving a bead which is reduced in thickness ata .point where the head seats between a ber drum chime and an associated locking band, whereby the ber cover is lockingly wedged between the chime and the locking band, and inadvertent or accidental removal of the fiber coveris precluded.

; With the above, and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, ythe nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, theappended claims and the several views illustrated in theV accompanying drawings:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a liber drum having a chime,`a fiber cover having a bead of reduced thickness seated upon the chime, and a locking band securing the bead between the chime and the locking band, and shows a novel wedge-locking of the fiber cover between the chime and the locking band.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the ber cover illustrated in FIGURE l, and shows the relationship between a plurality of relativelyV thick fiber cover disks of diverse diameters, and a relatively thin disk secured to a surfaceof each of two outermost cover disks.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a fiber cover disk sub-assembly, and illustrates a plurality of circular cover disks of diverse diameters prior to being formed into a liber cover.

Illustrated in FIGURE l is a ber drum having a body portion 11 and an upper integral inverted bead 12. An upper wall 13 of the body 11 includes an upper peripheral external wall surface 14 and is integrally joined to the inverted bead 12 by an integral shoulder portion 15. A metallic chime 16 is secured to the upper wall 13 of the drum body 11 and includes an upper chime ICC wall 1'7 in abutment with the upper external wall surface 14 of the body 11. The upper chime wall 17 is inwardly turned to form an integral inwardly directed curl 18.

A liber cover 20, constructed in accordance with this invention, is seated upon the inwardly directed curl 18 of the chime 16. The fiber cover 20 is secured to the container lil by a locking band 21 having an upper inwardly directed portion 22 in vertical spaced relation to the curl 18, and terminating in an outwardly directed hem 23.

As is best illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the fiber cover Ztl is constructed from a plurality of laminated circular disks of dilerent diameters secured together by a suitable adhesive, and includes an end 24, and a downwardly directed shoulder 25. The shoulder 25 includes a lowermost shoulder portion 26. A bead 27 forms an integral extension of the shoulder 25 and includes a peripherally reduced pinch portion 2S and a peripherally thickened wedge-locking portion 30. The cross-sectional thickness of the wedge-locking portion 30 is twenty-five percent thicker than the thickness of the pinch portion 23, for a purpose to be hereinafter made apparent. The lwedge-locking portion 36 terminates in a skirt 31.

The fiber cover 20 includes an outer fiber disk 32 and an inner liber disk 33. Each of the fiber disks are constructed of kraft linerboard or any other substantially similar paper product. The diameter of the outer ber disk 32 is greater than the diameter of any of the remaining cover disks, while the diameter of the inner fiber disk 33 is slightly less than the outer fiber disk diameter. The ber disks 32 and 33 are secured in abutting relationship to one another to form the skirt 31. Between the outer and inner fiber disks 32 and 33 respectively, are outer and inner filler disks 34 and 35 respectively. The outer filler disk 34 has a diameter substantially less than the diameter of either the outer fiber disk 32 or the inner fiber disk 33, and has a peripheral edge 36 in the wedgelocking portion 30. The inner filler disk 35 has a diameter less than any of the above-mentioned cover disks, and has a peripheral edge 37 in the lowermost shoulder portion 26. The cover disks 34, 35 and 33 include respective adhesive-coated surfaces 38, 40 and 41 for securing together the disks 32-35.

A relatively thin, extensible, identical, circular disk 42 of kraft paper is prelaminated to an outer surface 43 of the outer liber disk 32, and to an outer surface 44 of the inner ber disk 33 prior to the fabrication of the fiber cover 20. That is, the sheet stock from which the cover disks 32 and 33 are cut have a surface to which extensible kraft paper has been prelaminated.

The disks 32-35, prior to being formed to the coniguration of the fiber cover 20 constitute a liber cover disk sub-assembly 39, as is best illustrated in FIGURE 3.

The fiber cover disk sub-assembly 39 may also be provided with a lining (not shown) of such materials as polyethylene, aluminum foil, .polypropylene or Mylar on the exposed surface of the inner disk 33. The lining provides chemical resistance to the underside of the ber cover 23 to protect it from the drum contents or to prevent water vapor transmission. A lining formed from thermoplastic resin materials such as polyethylene can be used even though the fiber cover 20 is formed under heat and pressure conditions.

The above-mentioned extensible kraft paper disk 42 also prevents splitting and fracture of the fiber cover during fabrication and also enhances the appearance of the completely fabricated ber cover.

The fiber cover 20 illustrated in FIGURE 1, decreases substantially in crosssectional thickness radially outwardly from the end 24 to the skirt 31. As heretofore noted, the bead 2.7 is also reduced in thickness at the peripheral pinch portion 28. The thickness of the bead 27 at the pinch portion 28 is at least 25% less than the thickness of the bead 27 at the wedge-locking portion 30. The eliect of the reduced thickness in the pinch area 23 and the increased thickness of the wedge-locking portion 30 is to create a wedge-locking arrangement between the curl 18 of the body 11 and the upper portion 22 of the locking band 2l. In effect, any misuse of the drum lll, such as the drum being accidentally dropped, which would otherwise cause the cover 2li to slip out from between the curl 18 and overlying upper portion 22 of the locking band 21, is precluded.

Furthermore, the downwardly directed shoulder 25 of the liber cover 2li additionally aids in preventing the cover from being slipped out from between the curl 18 and the locking band 21. The main purpose of the downwardly directed shoulder is to gather extra material in the cover 20 so that when the liber drum 1t) is subjected to a side blow such as can occur upon the dropping of the drum, the drum l@ can deform to a slightly elliptical shape. In the absence of the shoulder 25, the tension which immediately occurs across the long axis of the elliptically deformed drum would cause a ilat cover to pull out from underneath the locking band 21. However, the excess material gathered in the downwardly directed shoulder 25 permits material to be present along the long axis, hence, more distortion of the drum 1li is required before a -tensile stress is developed in the cover 20 suiiicient to pull the cover 20 from between the chime 16 and the locking band 2l.

Fiber drums, such as drum ld, are manufactured in numerous sizes and in different weight constructions depending upon the weight of contents that is to be shipped in the drum. Both the rail and motor freight regulations specify the minimum thickness and Mullen test requirements prescribed for specific size and weight construction of drums. Hence, all covers are not made to the same thickness.

The liber cover 220 illustrated in FIGURE l may, for example, be used for shipping 550 pounds of dry products and readily comply with the above-mentioned regulations. In order to make a less expensive cover, the inner liller disk of the liber cover 2i) would be removed, as a result of which, up to 300 pounds of products may be shipped. Furthermore, to increase the particular weight construction of the liber cover 2li illustrated in FIGURE 1, it would only be necessary to add additional inner filler disks, such as liller disk 35, to the liber cover 20.

Irrespective of the number of inner liller disks 35 which are added to or removed from the liber cover 2t?, the thickness of the wedge-locking portion 3l), the pinch portion Z8 and the skirt 31 is maintained constant. Because the thickness of the skirt 31 and the bead 2.7 remain constant, irrespective of the diilerent weight constructions of the cover 29, the height of the chime 16 as well as the width and length of the locking band 21 do not have to be varied.

The liber cover illustrated in FIGURE 1 is constructed by first cutting the plurality of cover disks from sheet stock to the required diameters. The outer liber disk 32 and the inner liber disk 33 are preferably constructed from kraft linerboard. The outer liller disk 34 and the inner filler disk 35 are constructed from solid liber board, while the relatively thin extensible disks 42 prelarninated to the cover disks 32 and 33 are made from a relativelyr As an example, a liber cover constructed in accordance with the disclosure relative to FIGURE 2 would have a weight construction suliicient for shipping 550 pounds of contents and a maximum thickness of .230 inch. Each of the fiber disks is constructed from kraft linerboard having a thickness of approximately .065 inch, While each of the liller disks, made from solid liber board for example, has a thickness of approximately .050 inch. It should be noted that the thickness of the skirt 31 is the combined thicknesses of the outer liber disks, i.e., .130 inch, which is the clearance between the inside of a locking band and the outside of a chime of a standard drum. ln addition, the caliper of a bead of this example cover is .180 inch, while the caliper of the peripheral pinch portion thereof is .135 inch, resulting in a reduction in caliper at the pinch portion of approximately 25% below the caliper at the wedge-locking portion.

l claim:

l. A liber cover comprising an end, a shoulder forming an integral extension of said end, a bead integral with said shoulder and terminating in a depending peripheral skirt, said bead including a bight portion between said shoulder and said skirt, said bead bight portion including a peripheral pinch-portion of a lesser thickness than a remaining portion of the bead bight portion adapted when assembled upon a drum between a drum chime and a locking band associated therewith to lockingly wedge the liber cover upon the drum to prelude accidental removal of the liber cover from the drum.

2. A liber cover comprising a plurality of laminated disks and including an end, a shoulder forming an integral extension of said end, a bead integral with said shoulder and terminating in a depending peripheral skirt, said bead including a bight portion between said shoulder and said skirt, said liber cover radially decreasing in thickness from said end to said skirt, said bead bight portion including a peripheral pinch-portion having a thickness less than the thickness of the bead and adapted when assembled upon a drum between a drum chime and a locking band associated therewith to lockingly wedge the liber cover upon the'drurn to preclude accidental removal of t-he liber cover from the drum.

3. A liber cover as delined in claim 2 wherein said plurality of laminated disks are circular and a majority of said disks are of different diameters.

4. A liber cover as delined in claim 3 wherein said disks include at least an outer disk, an inner disk and an intermediate disk, said inner, outer and intermediate disks forming the end, the shoulder and the bead of said` cover, and said inner and outer disks forming said skirt portion.

5. A liber cover as dened in claim 4 wherein said bead includes a wedge-locking portion between said peripheral pinch portion of said bead and said skirt, said wedge locking portion being thiekner than'the thickness of the skirt and the thickness of the peripheral pinchportion of said bead.

6. A fiber cover as delined in claim 5 wherein said intermediate disks terminate within said wedge-locking portion.

'7. A liber cover as delined in claim 6 wherein said plurality of laminated disks includes at least one additional intermediate filler disk, said additional intermediate liller disk terminating at said shoulder whereby the weight construction of said liber cover may be increased without increasing the thickness of the skirt or the thickness of the bead.

8. A liber cover as defined in claim 6 wherein said plurality of laminated disks include a plurality of additional identical intermediate liller disks, said plurality of additional identical intermediate liller disks terminating at said shoulder whereby the weight construction of said liber cover may be materially increased without increasing the thickness of the skirt or the thickness of the bead.

9. A ber cover as deiined in claim 7 wherein said outer disk overlies said intermediate ller disk, said intermediate ller disk overlies said additional intermediate filler disk and said additional intermediate ller disk overlies said inner disk.

10. A ber cover as defined in claim 9 wherein each of said inner and outer disks include outermost surfaces having a relatively thin extensible disk laminated thereto.

11. A ber cover disk sub-assembly comprising a plurality of laminated circular disks, said plurality of disks including a rst outer disk, a rst intermediate ller disk secured in overlying relationship to said outer disk, a second intermediate ller disk secured in overlying relationship to said rst intermediate ller disk and an inner disk secured in overlying relationship to said second intermediate ller disk, each of said plurality of disks being of diiierent diameters, and a relatively thin extensible disk being secured in overlying relationship to each of said inner and outer ber disks.

12. A ber cover disk sub-assembly as defined in claim 11 wherein a relatively thin extensible disk is secured in overlying relationship to each of said inner and outer ber disks.

13. A ber cover disk sub-assembly as defined in claim 11 wherein the diameter of the outer, inner, rst intermediate and second intermediate circular disks respectively decrease in size.

14. A combination of a drum, a locking band, and a ber cover; said drum including a metallic chime having an upper wall terminating in a curl; said locking band including a portion overlying said curl, said ber cover including an end, a shoulder, an integral bead and a depending peripheral skirt, said bead including a peripheral pinch portion of reduced thickness between said curl and the overlying portion of said locking band whereby the ber cover is lockingly wedged against accidental removal from between the curl and overlying locking band portion.

15. A combination of a drum, a locking band, and a ber cover as dened in claim 14 wherein said ber cover comprises a plurality of laminated disks, said disks including at least an outer disk, an inner disk and an intermediate ller disk, said inner, outer and intermediate disks forming the end, shoulder and bead of said ber cover and said inner and outer disks forming said skirt.

16. A combination of a drum, a locking band, and a ber cover as dened in claim 15 wherein said bead includes a wedge-locking portion between said skirt, and said peripheral pinch portion of said bead, said wedge-locking portion being thicker than the thickness of the shirt and the thickness of the peripheral pinch portion of said bead.

17. A combination of a drum, a locking band and a ber cover as deiined in claim 16 wherein said plurality of laminated disks includes at least one additional intermediate ller disk, said additional intermediate ller disk terminating at said shoulder whereby the weight construction of said ber cover may be increased without increasing the thickness of the bead and skirt and further enabling the ber cover to be used with standard drums of diverse weight constructions without redimensioning of the drum, or its associated chime and locking band.

18. A ber cover comprising a plurality of laminated disks and including an end, a shoulder forming an integral extension of said end, a bead integral with said shoulder and terminating in a depending peripheral skirt, said ber cover radially decreasing in thickness from said end to said skirt, said bead including a peripheral pinch-portion having a thickness less than the thickness of the bead and adapted when assembled upon a drum between a drum chime and a locking band associated therewith to lockingly wedge the ber cover upon the drum to preclude accidental removal of the ber cover from the drum, at least one of an inner and outer disk yof said plurality of disks includes an outermost surface having a relatively thin extensible disk laminated thereto.

19. A ber cover comprising an end, a shoulder forming an integral extension of said end, a bead integral with said shoulder and terminating in a depending peripheral skirt, said bead including a bright portion between said shoulder and said skirt, said bead bight portion including a peripheral pinch-portion of a lesser thickness than a remaining portion of the bight portion and adapted when assembled upon a drum between a drum chime and a locking band associated therewith to lockingly wedge the ber cover upon `the drum to preclude accidental removal of the ber cover from the drum, and a wedge locking portion between the peripheral pinch portion of the bead and the skirt, said wedgelocking portion being thicker than the thickness of the peripheral pinch portion of said bead.

20. A ber cover comprising an end panel, said end panel being joined by a shoulder to a bead terminating in a depending peripheral skirt, said shoulder, bead and peripheral skirt dening a generally annular channel substantially U-shaped in cross-section, and a medial portion of said bead being reduced in thickness relative to remaining portions of said bead to either side of said medial portion, and a radially outermost portion of said bead bight portion being thicker than the thickness of the reduced medial portion.

21. The combination of a drum, a locking band and a ber cover; said drum including a body terminating in a free edge; said locking band including a portion overlying said free edge; said ber cover including a bead having a bight portion of a predetermined thickness positioned between said free edge and said overlying portion of the locking band, said bight portion including a portion between said free edge and said overlying portion of a thickness less than the distance between said free edge and said overlying locking band portion, and a radially outermost portion of said bead being of a thickness greater than the reduced thickness of said medial bead bight portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,178,121 10/1939 Lockhart 156-588 2,304,539 12/ 1942 Carpenter 229-47 2,313,309 3/ 1943 Arnold 229-47 2,456,047 12/ 1948 Carpenter 229-47 2,579,974 12/ 1951 Scott et al 229-47 2,778,765 1/1957 Dym 156-222 2,816,853 12/1957 Meyers 156-222 3,066,725 12/ 1962 Schweitzer 156-588 JOSEPH R. LECLA-IR, Primary Examiner. FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner, 

1. A FIBER COVER COMPRISING AN END, A SHOULDER FORMING AN INTEGRAL EXTENSION OF SAID END, A BEAD INTEGRAL WITH SAID SHOULDER AND TERMINATING IN A DEPENDING PERIPHERAL SKIRT, SAID BEAD INCLUDING A BIGHT PORTION BETWEEN SAID SHOULDER AND SAID SKIRT, SAID BEAD BIGHT PORTION INCLUDING A PERIPHERAL PINCH-PORTION OF A LESSER THICKNESS THAN A REMAINING PORTION OF THE BEAD BIGHT PORTION ADAPTED WHEN ASSEMBLED UPON A DRUM BETWEEN A DRUM CHIME AND A LOCKING BAND ASSOCIATED THEREWITH TO LOCKINGLY WEDGE THE FIBER COVER UPON THE DRUM TO PRELUDE ACCIDENTAL REMOVAL OF THE FIBER COVER FROM THE DRUM. 